Effects of prenatal exposures to maternal obesity and gestational diabetes on metabolic decline from childhood to adolescence and underlying neurobiological pathways

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Rising childhood obesity rates are coupled with an alarming increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents. Evidence suggests that in utero exposures to maternal obesity and/or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) contribute to these upward trends, and the effects of these prenatal exposures on metabolic risk become more pronounced during adolescence. While the biological mechanisms of such maternal-fetal programming are poorly understood, compelling studies in rodent models show that in utero exposure to maternal obesity and/or diabetes causes abnormal development of brain pathways involved in energy balance regulation, leading to obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life. Our group was the first to study the effects in utero exposures to maternal obesity and GDM on brain pathways and metabolic outcomes in humans using a pioneering approach combining neuroimaging methods and metabolic phenotyping in children. To date, findings from cross-sectional studies in our BrainChild cohort provide strong support for the neuroendocrine programming effects seen in animal models. The earliest abnormality we have identified involves modification of brain pathways known to be involved in energy balance regulation. These brain modifications were predictive of increases in food intake and weight gain in children during short term follow-up and lead to the primary hypothesis of the present study: that differences in the neural markers observed in children at age 7-10 will be predictive of metabolic outcomes during the transition to adolescence, a critical time for brain development and metabolic decline. Child postnatal behaviors including physical activity, diet and sleep may also be mediating or modifying the effects of brain pathways linking in utero exposures to maternal GDM and obesity on child metabolic trajectories. We will include measures of these behaviors and explore these pathways to generate important data for future studies focusing on lifestyle behaviors. The proposed longitudinal study of the BrainChild cohort for up to six years of follow up provides the unique opportunity to advance our understanding of the interplay among brain changes, obesity, insulin resistance and beta cell function at early stages in the evolution of transgenerational transmission of obesity and diabetes risks. Given the growing number of pregnancies complicated by maternal obesity and GDM, the well-being of future generations may depend to an important degree on developing interventions that can break the vicious transgenerational cycle of obesity and diabetes. The proposed studies will contribute critical information to the knowledge base required for development of such interventions.